On 26 February 2023, a boat carrying migrants sank amidst harsh weather conditions while trying to land on the coast of Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort village near the town of Crotone in the region of Calabria in Southern Italy.

It led to a public outcry, and following an investigation conducted by journalists, both the Italian government and the European Union (EU) border agency Frontex were accused of lying about their roles in the accident.

[9] A Frontex aircraft, monitoring the area as part of Operation Themis to support Italy with border control, surveillance, and search and rescue in the central Mediterranean, intercepted a ship on the evening of 25 February 2023.

[10] On 26 February 2023, the Summer Love,[11] a boat that had set sail from İzmir, Turkey, a few days earlier, sank off the southern coast of Crotone in the Italian region of Calabria.

[23] Citing dissatisfaction with the official version of events, journalists from Sky News, Lighthouse Reports, Le Monde, El País, Domani, and Süddeutsche Zeitung sought to investigate why a rescue mission was not launched sooner than it was.

Approximately an hour later, two Guardia di Finanza boats were launched to investigate the vessel; both were forced to turn back due to the bad weather, and this was communicated to the Italian Coast Guard.

The investigation also revealed that the Frontex plane that spotted the boat had reported earlier that day that it would potentially not be possible to complete the planned flight path "due to strong winds".

[15][24] Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed the importance of stopping sea crossings that offer migrants what he called the "illusory mirage of a better life" in Europe.

[25] On 9 March, the Meloni government had an official meeting in Cutro,[26] in which the cabinet approved a decree introducing tougher penalties for migrant smugglers.